A Post Secondary Adventure
by purpleeyednekoyoukai
Summary: When Tala and the rest of the BlitzBoys attend college, they get a little more craziness than they bargained for...and it's all thanks to a vengeful girl from down the hall.
1. Prologue

Prologue: Moving In

Tala sat down on the bed and surveyed his work. The bureau had been shoved into the tiny closet; the desk was just far enough that the drawers could open all the way; the bed was shoved into the left corner of the room and covered with fresh sheets; a few posters were stuck to the wall so its bland whiteness wouldn't remind him so much of the Abbey; his tiny microwave and mini fridge were stowed under his bed; his clothes would eventually end up in the drawers (or all over the floor, whichever he felt like).

_"Not bad for two hours of work."_ He thought before his gaze drifted to the opposite side of the room. His mysterious roommate's bed was made up with a navy and blue camo comforter; their bureau and desk were in the same position as his; a navy storage unit with multiple sections hung from the hanger pole; their laptop was plugged in at the desk, but shut; one large poster of a kitten hanging precariously from a tree branch with the caption of "OH SHIT" hung above their bed; their microwave and mini fridge were also stuffed under their bed.

As he surveyed the opposite side of the room, he had to wonder what sort of boy the other person was. From what he had seen so far, he had come to three conclusions: they had too many older sisters, they were gay or they were actually a girl. The last was more of a half-assed attempt at a joke. This was not an all-boys college, so there would be no need for a girl to disguise themself as a boy to attend.

"Hey." Ian greeted as he entered without even knocking; Spencer, Bryan and Kai followed him; Kai, the last in, closed the door behind him with a quiet snap. Ian snickered as he looked over the half of the room opposite Tala's. "You sure your roomie's not a chick?"

The redhead grimaced. "There's no name tag, so I won't know until they get back."

"Whenever that is." Bryan snorted.

"Yeah." Ian echoed. "It's college; who the hell actually sleeps in the dorms?"

"Sane people?" Spencer suggested.

"They're a rare breed, here." Ian muttered. "Anyway, did you guys hear about orientation?"

"Not going." Tala groused; the thought of fangirls caused a shudder to accompany that statement.

"They canceled it." The shorter boy snapped. "Not like I was going anyway, but that means we'll have to deal with lost freshies."

"_We're_ freshies, Ian." Spencer interjected.

"Yeah, but we know where we're going."

The other four exchanged glances.

"...okay, _I _know where I'm going. You four don't. Whatever." He muttered and crossed his arms.

"Not everyone memorizes maps." Kai stated; all sound stopped when a muffled voice was heard in the hall. The sound of the key scraping the lock drew all five pairs of eyes to the door. In walked Tala's new roommate: a few inches shorter than Tala, black hair with silver bangs, grey eyes, clothed in a red Rise Against t-shirt and jeans.

Ian stared at the newcomer's chest. "Tala, I think your roomie's a chick."


	2. Chapter One: SemiOrientation

Ello poppets. I'm glad to find that my story has had such a warm reception and I thank you for it.

Welcome to:

Chapter One: Semi-Orientation

"Uh...hullo." Greeted the girl; she suddenly wished she hadn't, as the eyes that had flickered to the purple haired boy returned to her. She resisted the urge to swallow nervously and busied herself with closing the door behind her. The eyes still followed her, so she plopped her backpack on the floor and then took a seat on her bed.

"That one's your roomie." The purple haired one stated and pointed to the redhead. "Any ideas how this happened?" He questioned as the rest continued to stare.

She paused to think. "Generally, the co-ed thing only happens if someone puts in a specific request for someone of the opposite gender..." When the stares sharpened, she quickly clarified, "which I didn't!" The girl observed them quizzically.

The boys mentally braced themselves for when she recognized them.

"...oh." She murmured as realization struck. "Well, that explains why you lot look familiar at least..."

They stared, then braced themselves again. When, after a few minutes of silence, she only stared back, the boys were confused.

"I'm rather confused..." She murmured, unconsciously echoing their thoughts. "I didn't even know you were coming here, let alone request you...so how did..." She paused, thinking; her expression then morphed from puzzled to annoyed. "...that motherfucking bitch!"

"What?" Ian yelped.

"What, never heard a girl curse before?" She asked. "Anyway, the only way this happened was because of Hayden. Ya see, during orientation last semester, we somehow got in an argument about the national beyblade competition from, what...five?...years ago. I was the only one who defended you guys' team, so that bitch prolly thought it'd be funny to scribble one of your names on my roommate request sheet..."

"That's far-fetched." Ian stated flatly.

"Considering she's the only one who had the chance to pull this? I'd say nah. She's the RA's pet and gets some privileges 'cuz of it."

"Like?" Ian demanded.

"Like, access to the filing cabinet where these are, motive and plenty of time to do it in." The girl replied. "At any rate, once she figures out what happened, brix will be shat."

All of the boys, save Ian, stared blankly.

"...do we wanna know why?" The purple haired boy questioned warily.

"Hayden's room is, to put it bluntly, a shrine to Tala. I kinda don't wanna know where she got the photos of you shirtless." When the redhead's eyes bugged out, she winced. "Or mebbe they're photoshopped. ...now that I think of it, that's creepier than if she had the actual photos...anyway, were I you, I'd watch out for her." She yawned. "At any rate, I've an early class tomorrow, so I'm gonna try to catch some Zs." The girl promptly cocooned herself in her camo comforter and then flopped down on her side. "Night!"

The five exchanged glances, then began to talk in Russian. Tala, who was unabashedly staring at his strange roommate, did a double take when she cracked an eye open.

"If you keep staring at me, your new nickname will be 'Edward'." She stated before yanking the blankets over her head and flopping around like a fish out of water until she faced the other wall.

Ian promptly fell off the bed and cracked up while the other four exchanged glances.

"Dude, if she gets people to call you that, you will be royally fucked!" He crowed before dissolving into laughter again. Tala glared, then decided his laptop would be a more suitable resource. He cracked it open and typed "Edward" into Google whilst Spencer and Kai, having tired of the conversation, left for their own rooms. Bryan peered over Tala's shoulder, eager to find out what had caused Ian to lose it.

Ian, still snickering, soon left. Bryan watched as Tala read up on "Edward Cullen". When the lilac haired teen noticed his friend's left eye twitching, he beat a hasty retreat to the room he shared with Spencer before he, too, cracked up.

_"Very funny."_ The redhead fumed as he slammed his laptop shut; he smirked when his roommate's blanketed form jumped. He found himself disappointed when she merely awarded him a bleary-eyed glare before rolling over to face the opposite way again. He made a face at her back, then rolled over so he could face the opposite way as well.

-x-x-x-x-

When he awoke, he had to take a few moments to re-orient himself; the posters hadn't done much in the way of dispelling the Abbey-esque look of his side of the room. He jumped slightly when the door opened to reveal his roomie; her hair still dripped water and she was clothed in nothing more than a bathrobe. She gave him a bland nod before she turned her back on him and slipped on a pair of jeans. He found himself smirking as he watched her wrestle with her shirt and bathrobe; eventually, she got her shirt on without him seeing much more than the inch of back above the waistband of her jeans.

She yawned slightly, then began to pack her backpack. Tala turned his attention to his schedule; he discovered his first and only class of the day was at 11am. He was half tempted to roll over and try to go back to sleep, but he knew from experience that once he woke up, he would only go back to sleep after at least 10 hours had elapsed. A silent sigh escaped him as he rose and quickly shucked off yesterday's clothes; he then deftly slid into a clean t-shirt and jeans.

He turned to find his roomie brushing out her hair; she then carefully braided it from the nape of her neck down, then wound a hair thing around the end of it. Her eyes flicked in his direction, though her face gave no indication of her feelings about his observation.

"Kali."

He blinked as she turned, flipping her braid over her shoulder so it rested between her shoulder blades.

"That's my name." She clarified as she bent to put on and tie her sneakers. Her eyes, however, remained on him. "I figured since I knew your name, it was only fair to share mine."

"Sound reasoning." He commented as he finished dressing.

"You and your friends wanna come with me to the dining hall?"

The redhead stared.

"You guys are new, right?"

He nodded.

The corner of her mouth quirked in what could have been a slight grin. "That means I ought to at least show you some of the ropes before leaving you to get tangled and tripped up on 'em."

Tala shrugged. "They should be down here soon anyway."

She nodded, then stretched her arms in what appeared to be an unconscious movement.

"You two up?" Ian questioned as he marched in without knocking; he was followed by Kai, Spencer and Bryan.

"No, we're an optical illusion provided for your viewing pleasure." Kali returned calmly. "Anyway, I'm assuming you guys want some grub?"

"It'd be nice." Bryan muttered with a roll of his eyes.

"Okay..." She paused in thought, then clipped her key to her left belt loop near her hip and slipped her lanyard on which her ID hung over her head. "You guys'll need your IDs if you want breakfast."

Five minutes later found her leading the five across a small section of what was known as the quad. The building which housed two of the campus's dining halls loomed in front of them in the weak morning sunlight.

"Alright, this's the Ariadne building. It's got the Dwyn Caf. and the Taranis Caf. Dwyn's akin to a grocery-store type caf and is in the lower half of the building. You walk in, get whatever's on the meal plan up to $4 for breakfast and head to check out. Taranis is located in the upper half of the building and is all-you-can eat...also, no matter what anyone tells you, the bathrooms for both places are located over there." She pointed past some of the seating for Dwyn.

"Gotcha." Ian acknowledged once he noted his teammates' blatant silence.

"You guys can do whatcha want, I'm headed for T." With that, she calmly swept past them to the stairs and ascended without a backward glance.

Ian stared after her. _"She's weird...but blunt. So far, so good."_ "Well?"

"As much as I hate to follow the bitch who compared me to a pansy-stalker-fairy, let's." Tala growled and led the way.

Kai and Spencer shot Bryan and Ian questioning looks when they were sure the surly redhead wasn't looking. Bryan mouthed "tell ya later" and ignored the glare from their captain when said surly redhead realized he was out of the loop. All five had their IDs swiped; one meal was subtracted from their weekly allowance. They then split up according to what they desired for breakfast, but found themselves standing together awkwardly when they searched for seats.

"Dammit, must be breakfast rush hour..." Tala grumbled as they scanned the area for any empty tables.

"I see a spot." Ian commented.

"Where?" Spencer asked.

"There's five empty seats at the table Tala's roomie is at."

The redhead's eye twitched, but he led the way to her table. He sat down at the farthest seat from Kali and began to eat without acknowledging her. Ian plopped in the chair next to her; the other three took the remaining seats.

"So..." Ian poked cautiously at the sausage on his plate.

"Wouldn't eat that if I were you. That's one of the veggie sausages."

"Wha-how can you tell?"

"I work here, part time." The girl supplied. "It's the reason why I no longer have to pay the labels in front of the food any mind." She added, eyes dancing wickedly.

Ian stuck his tongue out at her and pushed the sausage to the edge of his plate. "You seem up-to-date on some fads...as well as some decent bands." He considered her Breaking Benjamin t-shirt.

"If you're proposing a music exchange, I'm all for it. My last trading partner ran out of new music a while ago."

"Sweet!" The purple haired imp grinned. "By the way, what's your name? ...unless you prefer to go by 'Tala's roomie'..."

She made a face. "I'll pass, thanks. It's Kali."

"Ian."

"Nice ta meet ya. ...so, you heard of Nightwish?"

"Nightwish? No..."

The other four silently dug into their food while they listened to the two of them swap band names and debate Evanescence vs Switchfoot.

Kali smirked. "Symphonic metal pwns all. No arguments."

"No way. Alt. rock is the way to go."

"There's a symphony playing and sounding epic in a metal song. This renders your argument invalid." She stated.

"Don't you _dare_ start dragging memes into this!"

"Why you no like memes?"

Ian glowered as she burst out laughing; the four others decided they didn't want to know and focused on finishing their food. The purple haired boy followed suit and soon all six of them made the trek to the drop off area for dirty dishes.

"Where are you lot's classes?" The girl inquired as she and Ian led the way down the stairs.

"What's it to you?" Bryan retorted with a touch of venom.

"I still have time before my class; figured you guys might wanna at least know where your classes are...if not, though, that's fine."

The four exchanged glances while Ian explained why he needed no assistance.

"I've got a class in..." He paused, checking his watch. "10 minutes. Later!" The purple haired boy sprinted off towards the Daedalus Building, leaving his teammates in what he was sure were capable hands.

-x-x-x-x-

"Evander Complex." Bryan stated.

"That is...this-a-way." She calmly grape-vined towards an intimidating hulk of a building. "That's the Complex. I'd grab a map on the way in, were I you."

Bryan nodded mutely, then headed in.

"Where to next, mm?" Kali turned to Spencer, Kai and Tala.

Kai met her gaze squarely. "Charon Building."

"Ah, writing. This-a-way." She continued her grape-vining up the sidewalk, but paused at a stretch of thick bushes. Her eyes scanned them carefully and she then jumped into them.

Tala rolled his eyes. "I doubt the building's in there."

"Of course it's not." She re-emerged, brushing leaves from her bangs. "But my backpack was."

"The fuck...?" The redhead stared; last he saw her backpack, it had been sitting innocently on her side of the room.

Kali smirked. "Don't bother asking; there is no answer. Anyway, Charon is this way." She led them up the street, pointing out other buildings along the way. "Zhere you are."

"...thanks." Kai replied distantly before he calmly vanished inside.

"Next sacrifice?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow; Tala glowered.

"Helios." Spencer supplied after a few moments' silence.

"Ah, Astronomy. Nice. This-a-way." She began to grape-vine her way across the street, but Tala grabbed her arm and forced her to walk with him. In order to keep up with his longer legs, she had to walk or be dragged.

"Also." The redhead commented as he kept his grip on her arm.

"Yar?"

"Stop saying that."

"But that's the first time I've said-"

"Not that. 'This-a-way'."

"What's wrong with saying that?" The girl questioned.

"Nothing."

"Then why can't I say it?"

"Because you said it too much!"

She frowned. "Says who?"

He gritted his teeth and barely managed to stop himself from tightening his grip on her arm. "Will you just shut up?"

"Why?"

Spencer, forgotten by the two, observed their bickering. _"This is a first...she's almost being dragged along by him and he's definitely pissed...but she doesn't look scared at all...in fact, she looks like she's having fun...and...wait...he's not that mad?..."_ He took a closer look at his tour guide's face. _"No, he's not...or else she'd be wincing because his hold on her arm would probably be bruising her..."_

"Aaaaaand here's-"

Tala clapped a hand over her mouth. "Just go." He growled wearily. Spencer complied, a hint of a smirk causing the corners of his mouth to twitch. The tall boy did smirk when the two resumed bickering almost the moment they started to walk away.

_"Maybe this roomie-mess will turn out in our favor..."_ Spencer hypothesized as he entered the building. _"Note to self: punch Ian for using that word so much that it's in my vocabulary now."_

-x-x-x-x-

Inside the Box: I agree, wholeheartedly. Ian is like the crazy, unstable element of the team. I tend to like to have him act as a devilish prankster who seems to have no regard for others. He does, he's just good at hiding it X3 Thanks for your review.

AquilaTempestas: It's always nice to find another Rise Against fan, though I'm afraid I've only just begun to delve into their large repitoire of songs. xD If you check out my OC corner (located on my profile), you'll find out a tad more about the OC of doom. Thanks for your feedback.

crystal tomoe: xD Like I mentioned above, Ian is the "crazy, unstable element"...meaning he'd totally do that with no shame, lol. I intend to update as often as is possible with decent chappies~...though I may end up trading off updates between this story and another.

Hope to see y'all next chapter.

Thanks for readin'.  
Emma


	3. Chapter Two: First Class and Rest o' Day

Chapter Two: First Class and Rest o'Day One

"So, what is your class, anyways?" Kali inquired after both had been silent for a few moments.

"It's biology." The redhead supplied shortly.

"Oh...what time?"

"Look, what the hell is up with you?" He snapped, turning to face her; his grip on her arm tightened so she could not get away.

"I could ask you the same; you're kind've only a few inches from my face." She replied calmly.

Purple-blue eyes narrowed as they gained a steely sheen.

A small sigh escaped the girl as she realized he was unlikely to let her go until she answered him. _"Normally, I can just out-wait or out-weird people...but I don't think he really cares if he makes it to class on time..."_ "Something tells me you don't have much experience with people being nice just for the sake of it..."

His head snapped up and his gaze sharpened to a glare, telling her she had struck a nerve.

She sighed again. "Look, I'm not out to get you or your friends. If you want, I'll even stop talkin' to all of y'all once I show you guys where everything is...or at least give y'all maps..."

"What's in it for you?"

Kali dropped her disaffected mask and stared at him. "Oh, my word." She threw her hands up in the air-or, tried to, as Tala still had a grip on her left arm. "Will it make you feel better if I tell you I consider it my good deed for the semester?"

"No." He bit out, his grip tightening further.

"And why not?"

"Because it's not true."

"And you know how...?" The black haired girl retorted, finally starting to lose her temper; she still kept her voice even. "Not everyone cares how many times someone's been on t.v.; I certainly don't give a fuck. If I really cared, would I've insulted you? Would I've talked to you and your friends like you guys are real people?" She raised her eyebrow as her manner shifted from calm to challenging.

He paused, considering her words. "...I guess not." His hand relinquished its grip on her arm reluctantly.

She ignored the pins and needles that raced to her fingertips. "You have bio with Prof. Granger at 11, right?"

"How-"

"I have that class, too. Here." She handed him a pencil and several sheets of loose leaf. "You'll need it; he's big on notes." The girl then resettled the straps on her shoulders and began to grape-vine her way back towards the Daedalus Complex.

Tala easily kept pace with her. "You'll be late if you keep on like that."

"Go on ahead, then."

He glared, bit his tongue and then continued to keep pace with her.

"...you don't have your schedule?"

The redhead gave her a curt nod.

"Oh...room number'd be helpful, huh?"

The look that comment earned her could have dissolved steel faster than sulfuric acid.

"It's room number-"

"Just shut up, speed up and show me."

-x-x-x-x-

"...hey!" Ian hailed them from down the hall. "Why're you two...?"

"Same class." Kali supplied; she attempted to give Ian a smile but the result was more of a twitchy grimace.

"Prof was that good, huh?"

The raven haired teen ran a hand through her bangs. "...sure, let's go with that..."

Tala gave her the one-fingered salute; she turned her head sharply so her braid smacked him on the shoulder.

The shortest of the three ignored the exchange. "So, how 'bout lunch?"

"...shouldn't we go collect the other three first?"

Ian paused. "Nah, they should be able to find their way to the dining hall okay..."

"That's the thing: going to eat lunch at 12 guarantees that there'll be no seats. Everyone and their grandma goes to eat at 12; the sane ones who want seating head for grub at around 1pm at the earliest."

"What about Dwyn?" Tala interjected coolly.

"The line stretches all the way to the soda machines in the back corner and that's with four of the six registers manned." The girl returned as though they had not been glaring daggers at one another five seconds ago.

Tala stared at her.

She smirked. "You're thinking girls are weird."

The shocked look that darted across his face was priceless.

-x-x-x-x-

"Note to self: get a camera."

"Shut it, woman!"

Ian groaned, exasperated. The three of them had been standing near the back entrance to Ariadne for the ten minutes and the two of them had spent the past nine bickering. He raised his eyes from the ground to see Kai, Spencer and Bryan headed their way.

"Finally!" He called once they were within ten feet.

Bryan raised an eyebrow; Ian jerked a thumb in the bickering duo's direction.

"They're still at it?" Spencer muttered.

Bryan made a face. "What's the bet they kill one another before the week's out?"

"I'm not taking it." Kai stated flatly.

"GUYS."

All stopped and stared at the irritated wyvern-wielder.

"If we're not gonna eat right now 'cuz there's no seats, why don't we do a quick rundown of important places?"

Tala smirked. "Sure."

Kali looked resigned. "Why not?"

The redhead gestured towards a clump of buildings with a flourish. "Lead on."

She blatantly ignored him and led them in the opposite direction.

"Lemme guess." Ian drawled. "He got you to promise to leave us all alone/stay away from us once you finish showing us around."

Grey eyes flickered to him, blinked, then scanned the area for a building their owner had yet to share with the boys.

Ian grinned. "Sorry, capitan, but no can do."

Purplish-blue eyes stared holes in his back.

"Hey, she's my music-sharing partner. Rules say you don't break the contract 'til one of you has run out of songs. So, sorry Tal, but Kals has to talk to me even after your stupid promise is supposed to come into play."

The eyes-boring-holes turned to Kali's back.

She turned to look at Ian. "You do realize that he's my roommate."

"Yep."

"You also realize that he has an innumerable amount of chances to try to kill me?"

"Yep."

"AND that he can probably make it look like it was an accident?"

The imp grinned. "Aaaand yep."

"Okay." She replied affably. "Just checkin'."

Both shook their heads when low-pitched swearing began to issue from a certain someone behind them and once again delved into the topic of music. Kali did pause the discussion occasionally to point out a building or complex of interest and gave a few interesting facts on it.

-x-x-x-x-

The moment Kali left the room she shared with Tala, he slammed the door so loud it echoed down the hall. She jumped slightly, then shook her head.

_"I can't wait 'til I can change rooms...it'd serve him right if his next roomie was some rabid fangirl..." _Her neutral expression morphed into a devious grin. _"Or, better yet, a rabid **yaoi** fangirl."_ The thought cheered her up and she arrived at the library to begin her quest for decent literature in a better frame of mind than she had spent most of her first day of the new semester.

-x-x-x-x-

"Ian, what the fuck?" Bryan growled the moment Tala slammed the door.

"What?" He echoed distantly as he mashed the buttons on his gameboy advance; he had finally gotten to face the thrice-damned Gannondorf.

Tala smacked the device out of his hands; it clattered to the floor and skidded under Kali's bed. The tinny music seemed to echo in the silence that fell.

"What?" He snapped, furious red eyes locked on Tala.

"I found a way to rid us of the fang-"

"She's not a fangirl." Spencer interjected. "If you're gonna talk him out of this, you have to be factual. You know that."

The redhead took half a step towards the bigger teen, fist raised; he stopped himself, visibly struggling for self control. He drew in a shaky breath and lowered his arm as the muscle in his jaw worked.

An unfamiliar girl poked her head in the room, "hey, K-who the-"

"_**Get out**_."

The girl took one look at the group of tense teens and promptly withdrew. She bit her lip, suddenly worried for her friend. "...well, if she's not here...she's probably in the library..." The teeth that grazed her already-abused lip drew blood. "...I hope she's okay..."

-x-x-x-x-

"What?" Ian growled after sitting in the terse silence that followed Tala's snarl at the innocent girl who (admittedly) should have knocked.

"Why are you encouraging her?" Tala managed the statement out calmly enough, but his jaw muscles were still tense.

"The-"

"And don't give me some bullshit about 'rules of music partner'." The redhead snapped.

"Alright, you want me to be blunt?" The ruby-eyed boy returned.

Spencer pointedly vacated his spot between the two verbal combatants and sat on the edge of Kali's bed; Bryan and Kai wordlessly followed him. All recognized the look in the shortest boy's eyes; it promised that the already tense conversation was about to turn nasty.

"I think you don't like her because it seems almost impossible to rattle her. She questions you, stands up to you, isn't afraid of you...and that drives you absolutely nuts." He hissed at his captain. "She also helped you four out without asking for anything or pulling any tricks. And that? That scares you. You can't comprehend that; you don't even want to."

Tala's hands curled themselves into fists and his breathing turned shaky, but he made no move to actually strike the younger teen.

This sign of restraint was enough to snap Ian out of his "fuck the world and you lot too" mood. "Am I right?" He inquired calmly after a few moments.

"Get out." Tala muttered as he looked away. After several moments of silence, the tension drained from his form, but he still wouldn't meet Ian's eyes.

"I won't push it...for now." The purple haired imp stated as he rose from his spot on Tala's bed. "But think about it...and give her a chance."

"Why're you so sold with her?" Bryan grumbled.

"I have my reasons." He stated with a carefree smirk. "Cya in the AM, suckers." With that proclamation, he calmly left the room.

Kai glowered. "He does realize that he shares a room with me, right?"

"Guess not." Bryan muttered.

A stab of dread assaulted Kai, who hurriedly searched his pockets. "...that bastard took my key."

Spencer and Bryan snickered while Kai fumed and Tala sunk down on his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

-x-x-x-x-

The girl snuck, cat-quiet, over to a largely uninhabited section of the library: a nearly hidden alcove on the fourth floor that most were not aware existed. She carefully peeked around the corner; her quarry was indeed seated upon one of the comfy chairs with a book in hand.

_"So that's how she lasts so long..."_ The girl shook her head, the hint of a smile upturning her lips. After observing her friend for another few moments, she was sure that the other girl had come to no harm; there were no tentative or slow movements when the other girl moved and she had no visible bruises. Satisfied that all was well for the time-being, the now-calm friend left the alcove as quietly as she had approached it.

-x-x-x-x-

Kali stretched languidly as she finished chapter four of the epic book she had just discovered by chance. _"Definitely worth checking out..." _A small yawn escaped her lightly chapped lips. _"I ought to leave before they close the library and I get locked in again..."_ Her relaxed expression soured slightly at the thought of returning to her room but she shrugged it off. The library was her haven and she wouldn't let thoughts of her crappy roomie sully it. She absently stretched and flexed both arms, then smiled ruefully. _"Not like I needed to do that..."_ A small chuckle escaped her as she gathered the two books she had found and reluctantly abandoned her alcove. _"To the checkout desk!"_

-x-x-x-x-

She entered her room cautiously, books held to her chest. Tala, she noted, was seated upon his bed; he appeared to be exhausted, if the slump of his shoulders was any indication. Her top incisor teeth scraped against her lip as she felt a stab of guilt for arguing with him all day. He was just so infuriating...! A sharp pain brought her back to reality as a drop of blood ran down her chin. She swore, drawing Tala and Kai's attention.

"I have **got** to quit doing that..." Kali groused as she pressed a tissue to her lip. Her bad habit of actually biting her lips had come to haunt her when she spaced out, which was often enough.

"What'd you do?" Tala asked tiredly.

"Bit my lip." The girl replied, slightly muffled by a tissue. She made a gagging noise when her tongue accidentally brushed against it; the sensation made her skin crawl.

"Idiot."

She glanced at the redhead, then decided it wasn't worth it; her attention then turned to Kai, who was still seated upon her bed.

"...Ian locked me out."

"Sucks." The girl commiserated before checking if the blood flow had been stemmed. When no more crimson liquid dribbled down her chin, she decided it was fine for now and tossed the tissue.

"What are you doing?" Kai questioned as she started ruffling around under her bed.

"Aha!"

Both winced when she tried to stand and cracked her head on the bed.

"Motherfucking..." Came the vehement hiss. "It's official." The irritated raven haired teen grumbled as she rose more carefully this time. "Today sucks...anyway, here."

Kai stared at the rolled up sleeping bag.

"I have a pillow around here somewhere..." Without waiting for a reply, she ducked back under her bed after placing the sleeping bag on her bed. "Here we are..." She carefully re-emerged and then placed a clean pillowcase on said pillow. "There. It's prolly not as comfy as a bed, but it's better than nothing, right?"

Kai nodded and then laid out said sleeping bag in the space between the two beds, though he left room for both to be able to leave without stepping on him. "...thanks." He murmured.

She grinned. "No problem." She then climbed onto her desk and then crawled onto her bed. After she was comfortably cocooned in her camo comforter, she sighed contentedly. "'Night guys."

Tala and Kai exchanged glances, then stared at her.

Kali cracked open an eye. "Yanno, mebbe both of you should be called Edward."

That earned her a pillow to the face from Tala and a raised eyebrow from Kai.

-x-x-x-x-

Inside the Box: Hehehehe...yeah...not yet X3 These two are a pair of romance-idjits...OHRIGHT. Uh, check out behind the meme . com for any questions concerning the memes the two bantered about, haha. I actually was playing around on there right before I wrote this story, which is why I was able to drag a few in...sankyuu for the feedback ::bows::

EmmaDeniseRAWR: Sankyuu~ I'm playing around with writing a tad differently than I normally do, so it's good to hear that this new style is working, haha.

On a different note, I think that this is my favorite chapter so far. I dunno if its really okay to say that, since I'm only on the fourth one still xD but...oh well. This one was also one of the most fun to write, as the next one made me twitchy...very twitchy =_=;...ahem, onwards~

Also. I've recently fallen completely in love with the new series Young Justice...so I will actually be alternating chapters of this story with the one I'm writing for that fandom...once I finish the intro, anyways...xD

In the mean time, enjoy~


	4. Chapter Three: In Which the Charries

Chapter Three: In Which the Charries Hijack the Plot (formerly titled "Plots and Plotters")

The next morning found the group of six meeting at the table from the previous morning. Kali was the first there, as it was her customary spot. Bryan, however, took his seat next to her from yesterday and began to eat without a word. She shrugged and continued to eat as well. Kai, Spencer and Tala soon joined them, though Spencer took Tala's seat from yesterday and Kai took Spencer's. This left Tala with two choices: sit next to her or sit one seat away. He chose the seat away, then glowered at Spencer before he began to eat. Spencer merely shrugged and dug into his own breakfast.

Ian smirked as he plopped down in between Kali and Tala. "G'mornin, gryphon six."

Kali, who had just taken a sip of orange juice, began to choke before she spat it out. She scowled at the now-wet splotch on her shirt before she rose and headed for the cash register where they swiped their IDs to get in.

She returned a few minutes later, the splotch now missing the pulp at least; she stood before her chair, pointing dramatically at Ian. "You are the most evil...vile...diabolical...accursed...evil...oh, I give up." She muttered before she sank into her seat. "Well played, wyven eight, well played."

"Someone spends too much time on MLIA." Ian commented blandly; that got him a raspberry before the girl returned her attention to her food.

Spencer and Bryan ignored them; Tala rolled his eyes; Kai glanced at both, then returned his focus to his breakfast.

"Ah, but wouldn't that mean you've spent too much time on MLIA as well if you know that?" She retorted after a few moments of silence.

"I'm sorry, your snappy retort was too slow. Minus five."

"Better late than never, foo." She shot back.

"You did not just call me 'foo'." Ian growled.

"I pity da-"

"Don't you even try to finish that overused, worn out and abused-" He began but was cut off.

"FOO."

"I kill you." He squeaked out as high as his voice would go.

"Mmhm, Achmed."

"A...C...phlegm."

Both started cracking up as their tablemates made a point to move their chairs further away in case stupidity was catching. The two exchanged smirks before returning to their little world of music, internet-related funnies and various pop-culture references.

-x-x-x-x-

"You guys all good on your classes?" She questioned as she led the way down the stairs.

A chorus of nods answered her.

"Eesh, sorry I asked."

Ian snickered; the others gave her half-annoyed looks.

"Oy. I know they say communication is 93% non-verbal, but you guys-"

Tala clamped down on her arm and began to drag her off to their next class. He had discovered, to his displeasure, that they shared the majority of their classes. "Shut it and c'mon."

"Later, guys!" She waved as the redhead dragged her off.

Ian grinned, then arched an eyebrow at the other three.

"He's getting used to her..." Kai acknowledged.

"But they're only stuck with one another 'til they can switch rooms." Bryan muttered.

The shortest teen merely smiled enigmatically before darting off to class.

-x-x-x-x-

All met up in Tala and Kali's room after their classes ended. Bryan relaxed on the floor, resting on Kali's floor pillow; Spencer borrowed her beanbag chair; both had been unearthed from under her bed. Ian took his favorite spot at the end of Kali's bed; he lounged on her body pillow, his homework propped up on his lap. Kai sat in Tala's desk chair, his homework spread across the redhead's desk. Tala and his assignments were strewn across his bed; Kali and her lone assignment occupied the upper half of her bed.

Bryan's growling stomach broke the silence. "Is it one yet?"

Kali popped her cell from her pocket. "Almost." She then ruffled around under her bed and then popped back up, throwing something at Bryan as she did.

The Russian's cat-like reflexes enabled him to catch it easily. "...what's this?"

"Fruit snacks. It's not a lot, so it won't spoil your lunch, but it should distract your stomach for the time being."

"...all-natural?"

"Try it." The girl stated, her mouth quirked slightly in what Ian began to identify as her "challenge" smirk.

The lilac haired Russian snorted, but opened the package and popped a tiny square into his mouth. "...not bad."

"Yep." She grinned. "They're also almost as good as granola bars for a quick burst of energy."

"Why would you need to know that?" Tala inquired as he checked the time; it was now 12:45, so he decided it was okay to abandon his assignment for the time being.

"I don't need to..." Kali sighed. "Not right now, at least."

The redhead gave her look; she ignored it in favor of finishing her last math problem.

"Shall we?" Ian commented as he plopped his homework on an empty spot on Kali's desk.

Kali hopped off the bed to collect her ID and key. "Sure." While the others got their things ready, she automatically stretched and flexed her arms. "...I've really gotta quit doin' that."

"Why? Nothing wrong with stretchin' your arms." Ian commented as he led the way to Taranis.

"Normally that particular stretch is better done after a workout; if I'm not careful, I'll pull something...and pulled muscles just plain suck..." She grumbled as she fell into step with him.

"You know from experience?" Tala asked as he kept pace with Kai; Bryan fell in with Spencer, who brought up the rear.

"Unfortunately, yes." She shuddered. "Never again."

Bryan frowned. "Sling?"

"Urgh, yeah. Damn thing was nuisance..." Kali grumbled. "Anyways, less go!" She took off; Ian chased after her.

Bryan and Spencer passed Tala and Kai effortlessly; the two who had been left behind exchanged glances, then decided it wasn't worth it.

-x-x-x-x-

"How long are the rooming assignments frozen?" Tala questioned as he took the only remaining seat, which was one right next to Kali.

She looked at him for a moment, frowning slightly; she then sighed before shaking her head. "Eh, about two weeks, give or take a day."

Ian mentally headdesked and hit Tala with an anvil at the same time; Bryan shrugged at him before spearing a piece of his waffle with his fork.

The lilac haired teen chewed thoughtfully. "Kai, did I ever explain about Edward?"

The redhead's expression hardened. "I am **not** a stalker-fairy."

Kai looked at Tala, looked at what he was eating and promptly pushed the eggs on his plate towards the edge. Kali snorted before cracking up and half choking on her french toast stick. Spencer did his best to pretend he knew none of them but continued to observe.

The dual-haired teen then turned to Bryan.

"Look up Twilight in your spare time."

Kai shrugged and resumed eating everything but his eggs, which caused Kali to start snickering again. Ian, still tempted to throw and/or drop something on Tala, shook his head.

The redhead's left eye twitched once before he turned to the still-snickering girl. "That means I only have to deal with you for another week and five days."

Grey eyes met his for a moment, their gaze measuring; their owner then shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat, Ivanov."

Ian winced as the others tensed. "Let's stick to first names, shall we?"

"How 'bout a compromise?" The devilish smirk on her face almost made Ian want to echo it.

"I'm listening."

Her smirk only grew wider. "Nicknames." She replied in a sing-song voice.

Ian barely managed to keep a straight face. "What did you have in mind for Tala?"

"Well, I think 'fire crotch' would be taking it a bit too far-" She broke off to gape at Tala, who was now lightly coated with milk. Bryan had, in his shock, spat his gulp back out. "...but I was thinking Reds wouldn't be quite so...bad..." She trailed off as murderous purplish-blue eyes came to rest on her. "Um...sorry?"

"No, you're not." He stated coldly. With that he stood with his still-full plate of food and promptly upended it over her head. "Now you are."

She blinked at him for a full minute, then stood without a word; her glass full of soda became intimately acquainted with his face and clothes before she stormed off.

Ian slammed his head down on the table. _"So much for inviting her to go to the mall with us to get our cellphones this weekend..."_

-x-x-x-x-

Tala left lunch not long after that; he knew once the milk and soda dried he would be a sticky and smelly mess. The thought of that, plus the fact that the milk had already been inside someone's mouth, rid him of any desire he had to eat. After glancing at the clock in his dorm room, he determined he had just enough time to shower before class. His icy mask was cracked slightly by a victorious smirk; he knew Kali well enough by now to know there was no way she could shower before class and still be there on time.

-x-x-x-x-

"That went well." Ian muttered to no one in particular as the other three stared after the long-departed combatants.

"No one'll ever be able to deal with him as he is, Ian." Kai stated flatly. "Which is why the sooner she gets a new roommate, the better off she'll be." The irritated half Russian stood and left; Bryan and Spencer soon followed.

Ian ran a hand through his hair. _"...I'm beginning to think you're right, actually..."_ He sat at the table for a long time, lost in thought. The sound of dishes hitting the floor snapped him out of his stupor and he realized he was late for his next class. Swearing, he rose and raced off, deciding to put his mind to the problem of Tala and Kali's inability to get along later.

-x-x-x-x-

The smug Russian entered class with time to spare and claimed a seat in the area he was sure Kali would sit. He wanted to see her sit through an entire class with food in her hair; then he'd consider them even and deign to speak with her again. (1)

He scowled when the class began without a sign of her but took the required notes. _"I hope she doesn't think she's getting the notes off me."_

When the class finally ended, Tala no longer cared about what that bitch was doing. All he wanted was some food to quiet the snarling beast in his stomach.

-x-x-x-x-

Ian entered the room that was Tala and Kali's carefully; Bryan, Spencer, Kai and Tala were all already there. He had a feeling all were pissed at him and he had the faintest inkling that it might have had something to do with the fact that the girl he had told them to give a chance had not gone along with their little 'code'.

He wordlessly passed the four, who blatantly ignored him; a silent sigh of relief escaped him as he saw that both his work and Kali's were not tampered with. After a moment of contemplation, he gathered his stuff and turned to leave. He paused a moment, about to speak, then thought better of it.

"_They won't listen to me now...if they ever do again...never mind that she doesn't know jack about they Abbey, let alone the stupid code they all still adhere to despite the fact that we're finally FREE."_ He stopped again, his anger coming to a boil, and turned to face them, ignoring that they were ignoring him. "Yanno what? Fuck you all. I've been patient, more than patient, waiting for you guys to realize we're **done** with the Abbey and all the stupid things we did while we were there. We can finally live the way we wanna, do whatever the fuck we wanna and what do you guys still do? Cling to some pathetic version of getting even with someone for humiliating you when this person didn't even mean to. _I've_ moved on, _I've_ adjusted, _I've changed_. If you guys wanna cling to the past, fine. Go ahead and do it...but I'm not gonna anymore."

All four stared at him as he turned back around.

"I-Ian, you got our attention, okay?" Tala called.

"Don't care."

The redhead was beside the door in a moment. "C'mon, joke's over. We're-"

"I **told** you: I'm done. I waited for you guys to try to adapt to not having to deal with the Abbey and it's influences. I waited for five. Fucking. Years. Come talk to me again when you're done living like we're still in that shithole." Ian told him without a hint of hesitation.

"Ian..."

The purple haired teen ignored the soft whisper and the panicked look on Tala's face. He knew damn well what was going through the redhead's mind and if that's what it took to snap him out of the rut he and the others had been in for the past five years then...so be it.

-x-x-x-x-

Kali entered her room cat-quiet to find four extremely subdued Russians in various spots in the room. Kai sat on her bed; the work he had been doing was strewn across the floor in front of him but it appeared he had yet to notice. Tala sat on the floor; he was surrounded by his work but it looked more like he had thrown it there. Bryan and Spencer both sat on the floor in between the two desks and their gazes were locked on the floor; their work, thankfully, remained on their laps.

She felt like she had just entered a funeral parlor in the middle of a viewing; any of the anger that had remained from sitting through class with a hat on to cover the food in her hair evaporated. Her teeth scraped her lower lip again, but she decided that she'd done enough damage for one day and silently began to pack so she could take a quick shower.

"Leaving too?"

The question was so soft she could have sworn she imagined it; however, when she turned to look, she found Tala's gaze focused on her.

"...just for a quick shower, actually..."

His gaze returned to the floor. "...he's right...you didn't know..."

"Know what?" The mystified girl quickly looked at the other three; she then noted that they seemed unsure of what to do.

"About the code."

"Code...?" She facepalmed as all the pieces fell together. "...you guys have some sort of way to deal with embarrassing situations and...I screwed it up 'cuz I didn't know it?"

Tala nodded.

She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "Sorry."

"S'okay."

Kali hesitated, then hurriedly finished getting her shower things ready. She snuck her change of clothes and a pair of sneakers in there as well; she had a purple-haired Russian to find once she was done.

-x-x-x-x-

Water dripped from her hair onto her shirt as she raced up the main street of campus. _"Dammit, where could Ian have gone?" _Her eyes furiously scanned the surrounding area; a shock of purple hair peeked out from behind the thicket of bushes that normally hid her backpack. "Gotcha!" She called, pouncing.

Ian yelped and threw her over his shoulder to the ground; his eyes widened in shock. "Shit, you okay?"

"Fine." She wheezed when she got some air to re-enter her lungs. "Note to self: do not pounce on Ian."

That drew a weak chuckle from the boy as he helped her to her feet. "What brings you out here?"

"You. There's a mini-Russian army of gloom that has taken up residence in my room and I had the feeling that asking what happened wouldn't help matters..."

He smiled bitterly. "They just finally got the message I've been trying to get across for five years, is all."

"...wha?"

He shook his head. "Never mind. It's-" The purple haired teen trailed off when he saw the look on her face. "What?"

"Before I start, I know it's none of my business, that this isn't my place and that I've got a better chance of makin' things worse than I do of fixin' it."

That drew a weak, though real, grin from her conversation partner.

"Anyway, what happened?"

"It's...just give it up...this probably isn't gonna be easily fixed..."

"So?"

He looked up to find the hazy-eyed dreamer gone; the girl who stood before him retained her previous calm, but there was a determined gleam in her eyes.

"Who gives a crap if it's easy or not?" She stated. "I'm always up for a challenge and if you lot are this upset over it, it obviously needs dealing with."

Ruby eyes considered her; this was more the girl he had gotten to know, though he did enjoy the space-case demeanour. "...they...haven't changed much...since the Abbey...I've been trying to adjust, to learn more about being 'normal'..."

"During the time you were on your own?"

He nodded.

"There's your problem right there, Ian."

"What?"

"You were on your own. They've always stuck together to the point where there's always been at least three of 'em. They don't know what it was like for you while you were alone...though, they probably do wanna try being normal for once..."

"They don't know how..."

Kali smirked. "Who better to teach them than the Queen of Weird and their former comrade-in-arms?"

"...that makes no sense."

The smile he got in reply seemed to say "that's the point". He sighed, then followed her back to the dorm.

-x-x-x-x-

"Ello, poppets." Kali greeted as she opened the door.

Tala scowled. "That was a long shower."

"That's because she went to get me afterwards." Ian commented blandly as he followed her in. "And I have a proposition for you-all four of you."

The redhead rolled his eyes. "What, we bend over backwards and you come back if we do?"

Ian ignored the bait and merely raised his eyebrows, his face perfectly neutral; when he glanced at Kali, hers was also neutral.

"What is it?" Kai asked after it became evident that Tala was too busy glowering to deal with the two.

"Simple." Kali replied.

"I'll try to be more patient with you lot learning more about being 'normal'-but if and only if you guys try new things, which include actually being friends with Kali."

The four who were given the option knew from the surprised squawk that that condition had not been discussed beforehand.

"Nuh-uh, no way, I object!" She cried once she found her tongue. "And before you even think about going all condescending on me, I'll tell you why: if I'm friends with people, I'd prefer they be that way of their own accord, not 'cuz it's part of some deal!"

"Fine. Which includes_ trying _to befriend with others, though the preferred-"

"**Ian**."

The purple haired teen flinched. "Howinell did you master the scolding tone?"

"Back home, I have a cousin who's essentially my age; he tends to pull wordplay tricks often. Anyway, the point is, Ian just wants you guys to get out of your comfort zone every once in a while...yanno, try new things, meet new people...that whole rigmarole."

"Do you count as 'new'?" Bryan questioned.

"Considering that aside from Ian, you lot've only known me for two days, I'd say yah."

Tala smirked. "Then I'd say we're off to a good start, wouldn't you?"

-x-x-x-x-

(1) - After being humiliated, one is to humiliate their tormentor to a degree that is equal to what they first experienced.

Yanno, this'd be easier to write this if the charries would stop hijacking my story lines D:

I had NO plans for any sort of food-fight-EVER-and then all of a sudden Bryan spitting out milk on Tala 'cuz of something Kali said came to mind...and then said vengeful Russian had to get her back...and THEN Kali, while generally not one to strike back, is also not one to take something like that lying down...oy. DAMN YOU, TALA AND KALI ::glares at them:: _;;

...you too, Ian. Damn it DX

...whew. Nine and a half. Fricken. Pages. OHMYWORD. Frick you evil charries, you never get control again D:

Inside the Box: ...say what? _;; Yaye, I'm glad Ian went up in your esteem~ Though, he might've gone up more this chapter xD ...depends on if you see him as trying to help or just bein' bitchy. Your call~ Ahem XD Kali is...weird. Like, she sees them. She **_definitely_** sees them as attractive. And she knows they're famous...but, she doesn't really care...that's not to say she's no one's fangirl, buuuut...that's for later on ;D

Niriane: why yes, yes she is XD heheh...you ain't seen nothing yet, though. ::evilgrin::

TwinPhoenixOfDark: Thanks ^^...I shall do my best to, as college is nuts D:...then again, college being nuts will prolly give me ideas :'D yaye college?


	5. Chapter Four: Wednesday and the Invite

Chapter Four: Wednesday and the Invite

(Wednesday)  
Breakfast on the third day of the first week found all six resuming their seats at the customary table, though not their former attitudes. Bryan, Spencer and Kai had nodded a 'morning' to Kali; she nodded back, then greeted Ian. He then started a conversation about the newest MMORPG they had discovered. Tala observed the other five before nodding curtly to Kali; she hesitantly nodded back.

During a pause in the conversation, purplish-blue eyes found hers. "Fire crotch; not one I've heard before."

The other five began to choke on their food or drinks.

"I'm thinking most wouldn't think it wise to antagonize you...Reds." Kali returned once she had cleared her airway of hash brown.

Tala smirked. "Touche." He noted her use of the nickname. "...you think it's wise?"

"Eh, not so much." She replied. "But if you're gonna dish it out, you better be able to take it." Her brain caught up with her mouth and she facepalmed. "...and that was the most horrible accidental pun I have ever made..."

Ian snorted as the others shook their heads.

"How come you're not still mad over that?" Bryan asked after the next pause.

"I'm not normally the type to hold grudges...'less you do something _really_bad."

"Like?" Spencer prodded.

"Like..." She paused, wracking her brain. _"Uh...well, most of my less recently made friends aren't here yet, I generally don't care what people do to me for the most part..."_"Eh, to be honest, I can't think of anything at the moment."

"So you have no temper?"

"I think you've already been acquainted with my temper, Reds."

The other four shook their heads; Tala sneered at her.

"I just don't see the point in stayin' mad at someone; whatever happened is done and over with, so it may as well be left alone." She paused. "For the most part, that's my philosophy."

"Most part?" Ian questioned.

Her face lost its open, if neutral, look. "...there is an exception."

"I'm gonna assume you don't wanna talk about that over breakfast and attempt to blatantly change the subject now." The purple haired teen commented in an off-hand manner.

She quirked the corner of her mouth. "Okay. You lot glad orientation was canceled?"

"Yeah." Bryan replied instantly. "The last thing we wanted was to deal with fangirls..."

"Haven't you guys noticed?" She asked, eyes dancing; her face was no longer closed off now that the taboo subject was dropped.

"Noticed...?"

"Beyblading's not as big here, Reds. Sure, there'll be some fangirls somewhere along the line-and you'd best hope they're not rabid, let alone yaoi fangirls-but for the most part, you're safe."

Kai raised an eyebrow at her. "Yaoi fangirls?"

"Yeah...for some odd reason, a lot of girls think that it'd be hot if you and Reds or Bryan and Reds got it on."

Tala's eyes glittered with malice. "And _how_do you know this, exactly?"

"Simple. My friend and I were having a contest to see which yaoi pairings were more popular in a fandom. I, due to luck of the draw, chose Beyblade. My friend got Yu Yu Hakusho...lucky little..." Her statement trailed off to incoherent grumbling. "At any rate, the number of times you and Rei," she nodded to Kai, "were paired matched the number of times Kurama and Hiei were...so...our contest kinda failed, 'cuz no one won..."

Bryan made gagging noises; Tala shuddered; Ian was still wide-eyed; Kai looked like he wasn't sure how to react at the present time but would decide later and get back to them; Spencer, who had been hungry before that little discussion, hurriedly pushed his plate away.

"Just be glad I didn't share the data on the mpreg stories."

"Mpreg?"

Ian turned green. "Don't tell them."

"Why not? They won't be scarred for life...much..."

"Shut up and tell us, wench." Tala snapped.

"...that's not exactly possible, you know..." She squeaked and ducked when he threw a french toast stick in her direction. "Okay, okay, it's male pregnancy."

All who were not already green promptly turned green and shoved their plates away.

"Pansies." Kali muttered and continued eating. "You'd never have survived having to watch the birth video senior year..."

They only turned greener as a thick silence descended.

"How does it even-" Spencer began in a strangled tone.

"Spencer!" Ian yelped.

"...ow..." Tala muttered, wincing at the thought.

Kali just shook her head and decided to let the topic drop...for now.

-x-x-x-x-

(Later that day...)  
"Yanno what I just realized?" Ian's voice broke the silence that normally descended when the six were busy attacking homework assignments.

"What?" Kali muttered absently as she fought her way through more math homework.

"You never gave the rest of us nicknames."

"...Kai's name is too short, yours is too...and I can't think of any for Bryan or Spencer that aren't simply shortening their names to one syllable, which is lame." She replied calmly.

The shorter teen pouted. "But Tala's name only has one more letter."

"But it has two syllables. Which is my point."

Ian glared. "Do we get to come up with a nickname for you?"

"...yeah, but if it's bitch, wench or any other number of unflattering words that are essentially synonymous with female, I won't answer to it." She replied.

"How 'bout..." He trailed off, wracking his brain. "Shiva!"

Tala arched an eyebrow.

Kali scowled. "I am NOT going from Goddess of Destruction to the Destroyer...nor am I being my own consort, either." Noting the four confused looks, she sighed. "Kali, in Hinduism, is actually the goddess of death and time, as in "your time has come"; she is also the consort of Shiva, who is one of their holy trinity. Shiva is seen as the Destroyer, though Kali has more recently been seen as a benevolent mother goddess..." She rolled her eyes.

"So we call you GoD now?"

"I will kill you."

"In the face?"

"With a brick." Kali finished without missing a beat.

Tala deadpanned. "And how does one kill someone in the face?"

"Very carefully." Ian and Kali replied in stereo with identical smirks.

Spencer shook his head. "Anyway...you doin' anything after class on Friday?"

"Me? Uh...not really." She paused, then whipped out her phone to check. "I have a club meeting on Friday, but it doesn't start 'til 6pm..."

"When does it go 'til?" Ian prodded.

"Ten."

All five stared at her with incredulous expressions.

"It's the anime/videogame club. First hour and a half is videogames; the rest of the time is usually devoted to watching anime episodes..." She frowned. "Wait, it's still the first week right?"

"...right..." Ian replied.

"Okay, then I'm free. We always wait a week for meetings."

Tala glowered at her.

Spencer shook his head. "You up for a mall run?"

"Sure." She replied, somewhat taken aback; she was also somewhat gratified that someone other than Ian had invited her to join their escapades.

"So how d'we get to the mall from here anyway?" Ian asked as he finished his math homework with a flourish.

Kali scowled at him. "Most take the bus, as with our IDs we get free fare back and forth. If we wanna do that, though, I'll have to find a bus schedule."

"Alright...now budge over and I'll help you."

Somewhat mollified, the girl did so; the other four watched in shock as Ian calmly helped her through several math problems, then let her try her luck after his explanation.

The raven haired teen grinned. "I get it now...thanks, Ian."

"Not a problem." He replied loftily, but ruined it by snickering at the face she made at him.

"What the hell?"

Both Ian and Kali raised an eyebrow at Tala.

Purple eyes narrowed. "Since when are you two so buddy-buddy?"

"She mentioned it yesterday, Tala...she's known Ian for longer than she's known the rest of us." Spencer commented calmly as he jotted down a random constellation.

Said redhead scowled. "Oh?"

Kali turned venomous eyes to Ian. "Don't you _even_-"

"YEAH!" Ian yelled gleefully, then ducked when she launched a pillow at him.

"I will go Achmed on you!"

"...right." The purple haired teen replied.

"Dude, I will..." She paused, then grinned evilly. "I will do as Achmed did and 'take that Verizon bastard with me'."

He paled. "Where, exactly?"

Her smile merely became more evil.

"I don't wanna know, do I?"

"Nope." She smirked.

Ian swallowed. Hard. Things tended to get messy when Kali smirked. She had proved that during their time as 'wyvern08' and 'gryphon06'.

"Whiiiipped..." Tala muttered into his bio homework. Kali and Ian exchanged glances, then decided they would put their spat on hold.

To say Tala was unamused when he was tackled/attacked by the two was like saying Ian on a sugar high was only mildly terrifying.

-x-x-x-x-

(After Wednesday afternoon classes...)  
Ian groaned and flopped on Kali's floor pillow dramatically. "Is it Friday yet?"

Kali snickered as she finished outlining her third bio chapter of the evening. "Ian..."

He made no move to remove himself from the pillow.

"Seriously, dude. I don't speak pillow-ese."

"Will you two kindly shut. UP." Tala snarled. Both glanced over at him at the same time Spencer, Bryan and Kai did. The redhead's hair was mussed, as though he had run his hands through it repeatedly; his purple-blue eyes crackled with irritation; the hand currently not grasping a pencil clenched and unclenched itself into a fist as its owner fought to remain calm.

The four who knew him well turned their gazes away and resumed their prior activities.

Kali, however, frowned and hopped off her bed, then approached the seething Russian.

"What?" He growled tiredly after realizing she was standing in front of him.

"Whassup?"

Purple-blue eyes narrowed.

The girl sighed. "What's wrong? You look like someone decided to tap dance across your forehead."

Before she could even blink, his face was inches from hers. "And why would that concern you?"

The other four froze, then wondered how they could pull her away from the violent altercation that was sure to commence.

"Well, if you get sick, that _does_ affect me. In case you forgot, you not only have most of your classes with me, but are also my **roommate**...aka, if you get sick, I get whatever you catch."

Ian hid a smirk, proud that she had come up with a reason he wouldn't be able to refute; he was also glad she had realized that the "good Samaritan" excuse wouldn't work with him. _"That would've most likely got her hit."_

"What, gonna suggest I pop a few pills?" He sneered.

"Uh, no. I hate pills and go out of my way to avoid them...which is why I know how to deal with a lot of stuff sans medicine." She replied calmly, unperturbed by his sudden proximity to her face. "Want my suggestion for how to deal with headaches/migraines? Or would you prefer to be macho and 'deal with it'?"

Purple-blue eyes flashed and his hand moved before conscious thought caught up with it; it met flesh with a solid thwack.

-x-x-x-x-

On second thought, mebbe Kali is allowed to hijack more often...::snickers:: She dragged the topic of yaoi stories into this, haha.


	6. Chapter Five: Aftermath and Mall Run

Chapter Five: Aftermath and Mall Run

(Still Wednesday...)  
Tala felt his stomach lurch as what he had just done sunk in; it was then he realized that his fist was a few inches shy of her body and that it was held in place by her hand.

"Not bad." Kali commented in an off hand manner, as calm as if she were discussing some sort of sports competition.

The redhead's gaze traveled to her arm; he was startled to note for the first time that it was lean as well as somewhat muscled. His look trailed up to her face; when he met her eyes, his own expression seemed confused.

"I, unlike most girls, do work out from time to time." She added lightly before releasing his hand; she made no move to step back, however. "D'you wanna know what it is? Or would you rather not?"

Tala's hand returned to its resting spot on his knee. "I'm fine."

"Alright." Without further protest, she resumed her seat and work.

The four boys warily observed, half expecting the redhead to take another swing.

"...that's it?" Ian probed cautiously after an extremely still and silent several moments.

"Well, if I get sick, I'll be blaming Reds." The statement was accompanied by a teasing grin; it faded when she realized Tala failed to recognize that she was joking. A small sigh escaped her; she shook her head and then focused on her homework again.

-x-x-x-x-

(Thursday, after dinner...)  
"Hey, Kals..."

She paused her music and turned her attention obligingly to Ian.

"Not that I mind, but...why're you always hanging out with us? Where're your friends?"

The other four stared at her, movie forgotten.

"Lessee..." She stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Well, Quinn and Michi won't be back 'til about a month into this semester because they did the 'semester abroad' thing."

Tala arched an eyebrow. "Last I checked, first semester freshmen weren't sent abroad."

"Oh, they're not freshmen. They're sophomores...uh, Ten is here but we have a...game, if you will. We duck and dodge one another for a month. First one to give-to approach the other-loses."

"Why?" Spencer finally asked.

"Well, we were rivals from the age of..." She paused, thinking back. "Six. We're not anymore, not really...but this game is kinda a remnant of that." A slight smile quirked the corner of her mouth.

"So we're stuck with you until they return or your friend gives?" The redhead simplified.

"No, _**you're **_stuck with me for another week and three days. The others are stuck with me for as long as they wish to be." Kali returned calmly before she turned her music back on and increased the volume.

Ian smirked at the confusion on three faces; Tala's wore a thoughtful expression.

-x-x-x-x-

(After the movie ended...)  
"Nine am class tomorrow, right?" Ian groaned.

"Yep." Kali replied as she idly scribbled comics.

"Whatcha doin?" The purple haired boy questioned as Bryan nodded a g'night to all of them and headed for his room; Spencer soon followed after a goodnight nod of his own.

"Drawing anorexic nudes."

The three stared at her; Tala, who ejected the tape from its player, missed catching it and it hit the floor with a muffled thud.

"...stick figures?"

The three continued staring for a moment as it dawned on them: Ian snickered; Kai rolled his eyes; Tala glared.

"Honestly." She muttered. "You act like you've never heard stick figures called that before."

"Who, aside from you, would?" Ian returned, still smirking.

"Well, I have the sneaking suspicion you will from now on."

"...touche."

Tala and Kai ignored them in favor of resuming last-minute work on their paper.

-x-x-x-x-

(Friday, approximately one AM...)  
The redhead collided with something hard, then jerked away. It took a few minutes of his heart thudding in his ears for him to realize that he fell off his bed, most likely from thrashing around during his nightmare. He warily sat up; his left side was sore, but not to the point of pain. Tala glanced over at his roommate's bed; his purple-blue eyes widened when he met sleepy grey.

Kali blinked, kept the eye contact for a moment longer, and then rolled over to try to get back to sleep. _"He prolly doesn't wanna talk about it anyway."_She told herself as she closed her eyes.

The tired and somewhat sore Russian decided he wasn't going to question his luck and broach the topic-now, or in the morning. He rose and climbed back into bed, wrapping the covers around himself. After a few moments, he found himself relaxing to the point where he could drift off.

"'Night, Tala." Came the soft murmur from the next bed.

His eyes found her blanketed form before they slipped shut and sleep claimed him again.

Kali rolled onto her back, ignoring the way her blanket tightened around her. Her grey eyes found the now-slumbering Russian and she let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. _"Phew...I was afraid he wouldn't go back to sleep."_ A slight frown tugged at the corner of her mouth. _"I'll deal with that bridge once I have to cross it."_She decided, then let the gentle cadence of his breathing lull her to sleep.

-x-x-x-x-

(Friday morning, before class...)  
"Goooood morninggggg." Ian intoned cheerfully as he calmly entered Tala and Kali's dorm room.

The roommates fixed him with identical death glares from their respective beds.

Bryan, who had followed him in, smirked slightly. "Not a morning person, girlie?"

"...stuff it." Was the muffled order before Kali thrust aside the warm covers and ignored the goose bumps which promptly peppered her limbs. Tala scowled and pulled the covers over his head as Bryan advanced, his smirk widening from 'mischievous' to 'downright evil'.

Kali, noting this change, quickly gathered her shower-things and was out the door. She decided she was glad she had, as she heard a sound that was unmistakeably Tala yelping when she closed the door behind her.

-x-x-x-x-

When she returned, dressed, from her shower, she found all five boys waiting.

"...is this the part where you tell me you've sold my spleen on the black market, or something?"

Ian snicker. "Nope. Breakfast time, though."

"...right..." Kali muttered as she grabbed her backpack, keys and ID. "Lead on."

Ian promptly did so; she and the others straggled along behind. There appeared to be no one else from their dorm up and about; the hallway was devoid of the normal early birds as well as the zombie-like conversations from rooms near one another.

When they got outside, things became even more strange.

The campus was eerily silent and empty; fog seemed to rise from the ground simply to obscure everything ten feet from them.

"Yanno, I'm almost expecting-" Kali began when the first rotten corpse traipsed through the billowing fog into view.

-x-x-x-x-

Kali snapped awake, flailing, and ended up on the floor as Ian, Kai and Bryan walked in.

"FML." She muttered, dragging a hand down her face.

"...which horror movie was it this time?" Ian queried as he plopped down at the foot of her bed.

"I think it might've been the Dawn of the Dead remake...'cept it took place on campus." She muttered as she untangled her limbs from her comforter and threw it on the bed. The girl paused a moment, then shrugged and began to dress, ignoring the four boys.

Kai flung her comforter at her.

"What?" She snapped as she dragged it off.

"Doesn't this-" He indicated the other three and himself, "bother you?"

"Nothing you lot haven't seen before." She replied. "And I wasn't stripping down past my cami and underwear, thanks."

Kai scowled before shoving the snickering Tala off his bed.

Ian ignored their antics and cocked his head to the side. "...you're used to changing in front of others, including guys, yeah?"

"Yeah." She replied as she laced up her hiking boots, then slipped them on; she then began to tie them. "You tend to get over it, or you don't last."

"What're you doin' that requires you to be in a co-ed changing room?" Bryan questioned as Tala and Kai glared at one another.

"Used to. I'm...on a vacation, of sorts." Kali grumbled as she finished tying her laces. "Anyway...I play a sport. Not a lot of places have the right facilities for it, so we ended up changing into our uniforms and such in front of our teammates. S'why I got into the habit of wearing camis to begin with."

"You never told me what sport." Ian prodded as she fished through her pile of textbooks.

"A sport is a sport is a sport." She returned as Tala shed his pjs and slid into his clothes for the day. Kai 'accidentally' stuck his foot out as Tala knelt down to pull his shoes from under his bed; in an effort not to fall, he grabbed onto Kai's pants, which had yet to be belted for some reason. The redhead ended up clocking his head on the bed frame; Kai ended up with his pants around his ankles.

Spencer chose that moment to enter the room.

Ian and Bryan started snickering; Kali discreetly checked out Kai before resuming her search for the right textbooks; Spencer, however, looked from Tala, to Kai's crotch, to Tala in a questioning manner.

Ian promptly fell off the bed, quaking with laughter; Bryan's eye twitched as he took a step back from both; Tala's eyes narrowed, though it was difficult to tell if it was from pain, anger or a combination of both; Kai snarled several expletives at him in Russian as he hurriedly yanked his pants back up; Kali goggled at the two in horror before shuddering and stuffing her finally-found textbook into her backpack.

"...we are **not** gay." Tala snarled as he jammed his feet into his shoes. "And that was **not **Kai's way of asking for a quickie!"

Ian snorted. "Me thinketh he doth protest too much."

Bryan stepped behind Kali, keeping her between the two in question; Spencer shrugged; Kai glowered at all of them; Kali rolled her eyes at Bryan before frowning.

"...so you guys didn't do anything that night Kai slept over?" She promptly flung herself to the ground as two pillows were launched in her direction with murderous intent. They instead hit Bryan, who returned them with twice the force. Pillow-stuffing littered the floor and bed near Tala and Kai.

Kali rose and mimed brushing herself off before gathering her ID, key and backpack. "...on that note, I'm skeddaddling."

"Ditto." Ian stood back up and followed the girl; Spencer smirked at the two now-humiliated teens and followed; Bryan raised an eyebrow at the two before accompanying Spencer.

Kai and Tala, twin scowls etched on their faces, looked at one another. At the moment, they agreed on one thing: Spencer was in for some humiliation of his own.

As Tala surveyed the destruction of his pillows, he added Bryan to that list.

"Let's go." He ground out. "I'll deal with this later."

Kai nodded, then led the way. "...they're going to be cracking jokes about this for weeks, you realize?"

Purple-blue eyes turned ice met his. "Not if we get our revenge at the mall."

A smirk tugged at the corner of Kai's mouth as he raised an eyebrow at the redhead.

-x-x-x-x-

(At lunch...)  
"Where's Kali?" Ian wondered aloud.

"She's around." Tala replied. "What are we, her keepers?"

"Don't worry, they just wanted to ditch their chaperon." Bryan commented lightly as he took his seat.

"Actually, I wanted pasta bar, and they didn't." The black haired girl replied as she slid into her seat. "Seriously guys, d'you have some sorta vendetta against all things Italian?"

Ian snickered. "Considering the only Italian beyblader we know? I wouldn't be surprised."

Kali cocked her head to the side. "Ah. You mean the player from Rome?"

"Yeah. Him." Spencer agreed.

Ian looked at his teammates, then back to Kali, then back to his teammates.

She smirked. "They missed that, huh?"

He shrugged as the other four glowered at Kali; then laughed. "Guess so."

"Ah well. English isn't their first language, so I suppose it's not that big a deal." She returned before taking a bite of the aforementioned pasta.

"Missed what?" Bryan grumbled after it became apparent that neither Ian nor Kali intended to explain.

"Player can refer to someone who plays a game, yeah. But in it's more modern usage, as slang, it means a guy who manipulates and uses a lot of girls for sex, or his own personal amusement." The girl rattled off.

"You are not allowed on Urban Dictionary ever, ever again." Ian groused as the other four resumed eating and ignoring them.

"Actually, I memorized the definition loooong before I knew of that website. My school was notorious for that kinda guy, so it paid to know their game before they tried to 'play' it." The girl returned, then ducked as Ian threw a vegetarian sausage at her. "Yeah, yeah, very punny."

The two fell into their comfortable banter mode, though they found themselves observing their tablemates.

Ian frowned.

Kali whipped out her phone, typed something and then showed him the screen.

_This is why we need to get you a phone. We could have a convo without them overhearing._

The purple haired boy promptly took the phone, backspaced the message and typed his own.

_Yeah, it's a good reason but this'll do for now. Is it me or are Tala and Kai ...uh...off._

The girl frowned, erased the messaged and typed her own before tossing the phone back.

_If by 'off', you mean quiet, even for them, then yeah. Well, at least for Tala. I wasn't around Kai all that much, so I can't really say for him. ...at any rate, is this...er...dammit, how do I put this?_

The corner of Ian's mouth quirked.

_Is this 'a cause for alarm' is probably the wording you're searching for. And, to answer you, yeah. When they get quiet...er...things get bag._

Kali snickered.

_D'you mean 'bad'?_

Ian deadpanned.

_Stuff it, you know what I meant._

That heralded an insult fest, one which they didn't need the phone for.

-x-x-x-x-

(Friday, approximately four o'clock)  
"Hey guys." She greeted as she and her class-buddy (aka Tala) met up with the other four in front of the dining hall. "D'we wanna eat here or at the mall?"

"What do they have at the mall?" Spencer asked as the other four frowned.

"I think they have American versions of Chinese and Japanese food, a Subway, a Burger King and a cheese-steak place." She paused. "They might also have a place that sells 'boardwalk' food, which basically means hot dogs, hamburgers and fries. Again, not sure. I only went there...what, twice?...last semester."

"You have free transportation to and from the mall. You're a girl. You're supposed to wanna live there." Tala snapped.

Kali leveled him with a look that equated him to a particularly boring specimen on a microscope slide.

Ian raised an eyebrow.

"My brother's more into shopping than I am." She stated before 'accidentally' crashing into Tala as she swept past them towards Dywn.

"So he's gay then?" The redhead growled.

"No more so than you are." She retorted before letting the door slam behind her.

"Stupid bitch." He muttered as Bryan and Spencer snorted; Kai and Ian rolled their eyes, but refrained from commenting.

She returned, moments later, with a bag of drinks. "You're still here?"

"Are you going to the mall or not?" The redhead shot back.

"After I put these in my fridge, yeah, I am."

"Then c'mon." Ian tugged her towards the dorm, shooting her a look she couldn't decipher.

-x-x-x-x-

They were on the way across the quad towards the bus stop when a girl ran towards them. All five boys tensed up, prepared to deal with that rare fangirl Kali had mentioned.

"Kali!" The girl hugged her.

"Sera! Wow, you look great."

The brunette-turned-blonde grinned. "I figured I could use a change."

"A change is right."

Both laughed, though Sera then noticed the boys.

"Uh...friends of yours?"

Kali bit her lip to disguise her smile. "Sera, meet my roomie, Tala. These are his friends Spencer, Kai and Bryan. Ian, however, is also my friend."

"Nice to meet you." She grinned at them; they stared at her impassively. "Ah, I see. A quiet bunch. I'll seeya later?"

"Sure. Just drop me a line, and we can meet up. Mebbe we'll do a library raid again?"

"Yeah, we'll have to get a hold of Mick first, though. Seeya!"

"Later, Sera!" Kali waved, then turned to find five flat looks leveled at her. She groaned. "I don't have the functioning braincells to explain the finer intricacies of how 'friends made in class' usually work right now."

The five continued to glare.

She sighed. "Fine, stand here and glower. _**I'm **_going to go catch the bus."

They followed her to the bus, then sat in the back, their flat looks still firmly in place.

_"I'm extremely tempted to say 'screw you guys, I'm going home'."_ Kali thought sourly as she took a seat near the front; the corner of her mouth twitched. _"However, if I __**did **__do that, I would probably actually be going home. Ah well...they're just...bleh. Boys."_

Meanwhile, Ian was mentally both swearing at and high-fiving Kali. She had just proved to the boys that she did not need to hang out with them, that she had other options, but she had also showed that they could easily be dropped or ignored and it would cause her few problems. Independence was good...the potential for abandonment was not.

_"Eff my life." _Ian moaned before glancing at the other four.

Kai and Spencer seemed fairly calm; Bryan and Tala were glaring daggers.

_"Spencer occasionally wheedles tales out of the lot of us, so he's probably heard of Kai having to deal with that cheerleader...so he gets that this is how girls get sometimes...Kai, of course, dealt with the cheerleader himself...Tala and Bryan, though...they have no idea..." _Ian rubbed his temples as his head began to pound. Playing referee was looking like a worse and worse move as time wore on.

-x-x-x-x-

Tala pounced as they left the bus; he dragged Kali off to the side.

"You asked if I was going to the mall; I said yes."

He glowered.

"You never asked if I was going with you lot."

"Are you going with us?" Spencer cut in as Tala stalked off.

"Depends. You guys gonna do a good impression of a human glacier? Or are you gonna be your...well, I hesitate to use the word 'normal'...selves?"

"Normal selves." Kai replied, then glanced at Bryan, then at Tala, who stood by himself a few feet away. Bryan nodded.

Tala scowled. "Are we going or what?"

"Heh." Kali shook her head. "Where to first, gents?"

Ian fought the urge to smile; things had been patched up and he hadn't even had to get involved! "I vote we wander, then go for food later."

"Seconded."

"Sensible. Food court's probably crowed right now anyway..." Kali muttered before leading the way through the aforementioned and extremely crowded food court to the stairs.

"To infinity and beyond." Ian mumbled.

"Hold your horses, space ranger." Kali returned and the two smirked as they led the way up the steps. "Alright, right now we're at the J.C. Penney sector. This place has mostly girly or kiddy stuff, with the exception of our oh-so-lovely electronic store...which is over there." She pointed. "The booths ahead, well, they vary. Sometimes they have stuff, sometimes they have decent stuff and sometimes they're just plain empty."

The tour continued down the sector; most of the stores were, as Kali had said, kiddy or girly.

Spencer frowned. "Don't you wanna go in any of these?"

She chuckled. "Thanks, but no thanks. I shop for clothes at Old Navy, Ross's, Target or, if I'm feeling particularly masochistic, Wal-Mart. These places, for the most part, are over-priced and way too trendy for my liking."

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Bryan commented.

"It is. Why should I pay fifty bucks or more for a sweatshirt here when I can buy the same thing at Target or Old Navy for twenty? I've never understood the whole 'brand name thing' most girls seem to cling to."

Tala gave her the "you're a girl, idiot. you're supposed to" look.

"Heh." Kali snorted. "So does that mean just 'cuz you guys do a sport, you're dumb jocks?"

All glared.

"Didn't think so. Just cuz you see the girly-girl stereotype on t.v. and in the movies doesn't mean every girl's gonna fit it. I don't and the standards you normally think of when it comes to that kind of girl need not be applied."

Ian covered his laugh with a cough. "So where's this phone store?"

"Ah, that's thisaway."

-x-x-x-x-

Ian approached the man at the counter while the other four boys were still busy. "A StrawBerry."

The man chuckled and began to pull up the necessary paperwork.

"Heh, I'd pegged you as more a BlueBerry fan, myself." Kali commented; both laughed, which caused the other four to give them flat looks. "Whoops, they prolly think we're laughing at the fact that it's taking them so long..."

"They're damn picky, what can they say?" The purple haired teen replied with a shrug before he resumed the process of purchasing his red BlackBerry...now officially known between him and Kali as a "StrawBerry".

-x-x-x-x-

"So, what's your number?" He asked as the two waited outside on a bench.

She pulled her phone from her pocket and began to scroll through the contacts.

He laughed as the other four approached. "You seriously don't know your own number?"

"Well, I usually don't give it out to people." Kali replied with a shrug.

"Then what do you do?" Tala snarked.

"I get other people's numbers, text them and let them use that to add my number to their phone." The girl replied without missing a beat.

"Okay, my number is..."

Tala gave Ian the finger before heading off towards the bookstore.

The other five watched.

"...he does know the food court's in the other direction, right?"

"Guess not." Ian muttered as he and Kali tried to muffle their laughter.

Tala spun around and stormed back over. "Something amusing?"

"Yeah. Either you really like books, which I can't fathom, or you have no sense of direction." Kali returned as she programmed Ian's number into her phone and sent him a text.

The redhead's expression turned wooden as the other four boys gaped at Kali. "Did you just call me stupid?"

"No, I said I can't picture you reading. I picture you as more of an active kind of a guy. Like...you like to wander around, swim...that kind of thing."

The boys exchanged glances.

"That's true enough." Bryan acknowledged as he led the way back to the food court.

Kali grinned. "I suppose the reason I have trouble picturing Tala reading is 'cuz I always picture him with glasses on..." She commented to Ian.

Tala stiffened as Bryan, Spencer and Kai exchanged alarmed glances.

"What?" Kali asked as Ian frantically motioned at her to shut up. "When I picture people reading, they normally wear glasses. My mind is weird like that..."

The other three relaxed, Ian ceased making the 'shuttup' motion, but Tala stayed tense.

_"...how did she..."_ He scowled; he didn't buy her little explanation one bit. _"I don't even have my glasses with me!"_

"Tala."

He snapped something obscene in Russian.

"...are you coming, or what?" Kali retorted, gathering that it was meant to be an insult from his tone.

He pushed past her, continuing to mutter obscenities in Russian.

She caught up to Ian. "I am so learning Russian just so I can cuss back at him."

He shook his head. "You would."

"Damn straight!"

-x-x-x-x-

Kali plopped herself down at the table with the rest of them; unlike them, she had her food in a takeout container.

"Why the takeout?" Ian questioned.

"Simple. As good as all this is, I can normally never finish it. This way, I don't have to throw out the left overs." She grinned. "And I'll have lunch for tomorrow, so I can use my lunch-meal to get some more snacks to keep in my dorm room."

"Planning ahead. There may be hope for you yet, young Padawan."

"I am **not **wearing that stupid braid-thing."

"Good, 'cuz I'm sadly lacking in the light-saber department."

"Darn. I wanted a blue one."

"You get a green!"

"I'm not Anakin, dolt, no matter how cool Vader ends up being."

"Dolt? Really?"

"Oh, stuff yourself."

"I intend to."

"...good!"

The other four tuned them out in favor of enjoying the food, which turned out to be better than initially expected.

Halfway though the meal, Kali closed the takeout container, threw out her trash, popped her headphones into her BlackBerry and shot Ian a devilish grin.

His eyes lit up as he recalled her previous comment; he gave her a discrete thumbs up, then distracted the other four.

-x-x-x-x-

"Tala." She caught his attention once all were settled on the bus.

"Da?" He grumbled.

"сын кусающегося животного овец." She stated.

Four of the five gaped; Ian cracked up.

Once he had calmed, he managed out, "your pronunciation needs work, but you get points for creativity...son of sheep biter..." His voice quaked with suppressed laughter.

Tala stared, then glowered at Ian.

Kali grinned, shook her head, then held up her BlackBerry and headphones. "I love online translations with pronunciation included, don't you?"

The redhead shot her a look that clearly said if she said anything else strange in Russian in the next twenty minutes, her precious phone was going out the window.

-x-x-x-x-

Big thanks to my two friends from college. They inspired the two OCs mentioned/intro'd in this chapter (Sera and Mick). Those aren't their real names, but they may or may not show up again.

Also, this chapter was written thanks to the songs "Who Says" and "Round and Round" by Selena Gomez. ...I have an odd taste in music but if it keeps my muse singing, then I don't care xD

Also: I have nothing against homosexuality or the LGBT community. However, in Russia, only 10-20% of people say homosexual relationships should be accepted, as of 2007. A law actively prohibiting male-on-male sex was only repealed in Russia a little under 10 years ago. Add in the fact that many straight men my age seem to think being called 'gay' is a horrible insult to their masculinity, and you have the attitudes I crafted for the boys.

Kali doesn't really give a damn, as she was raised in a pretty accepting household. Her problem with their 'relationship' stems from the implication that they had sex while she was in the room (albeit asleep).

Sorry about the extremely long gap between chapters three and four. I forgot I had it written, as I had a pretty crazy semester. On the bright side, however, said crazy semester is now over, so I can now write a lot more…thus where this chapter comes in. Get ready for one crazy weekend for these six, gang!


End file.
